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Supporters of US President Donald Trump participate in the Million MAGA March to protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, in front of the US Capitol on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images

Two Silicon Valley billionaires are holding dueling political fundraisers this week that showcase their chosen candidates in this fall's midterm elections and underscore a growing rift within the business community.

In one corner is LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who has been rallying corporate executives to oust politicians who support false claims by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.

On Thursday, Hoffman hosted a fundraiser in San Francisco with Twilio Chief Executive Jeff Lawson and venture capitalist Ron Conway, an early investor in Google and Paypal.

Tickets for that event, which featured an off-the-record conversation with former President Barack Obama, ranged from $36,500 to $250,000, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by CNBC. Donations from the event will go toward the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, which funnels money to state parties.

Hoffman's political adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn said that Hoffman is building a coalition within the business community to take on so-called MAGA Republicans.

The effort, dubbed Investing in US, consists of executives who are worried the MAGA movement could undermine future elections and ultimately the rule of law that has allowed capitalism to thrive. MAGA, or Making America Great Again, has been Trump's rallying cry since he launched his run for the White House in 2015.

"Their central mission is now anti-business," said Mehlhorn, referring to MAGA Republicans and criticism they have directed at companies such Coke, Disney and Delta because of their social stances.

So are they going to come for us? Yes, of course. And the question is, 'Do we fight?" said Melhorn, who shepherds the coalition for Hoffman.

But coalition faces some formidable and familiar opponents.

PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel has also invested heavily in midterm election races, backing conservative Republicans endorsed by Trump.

CNBC reported that Thiel plans to hold a fundraiser Friday at his Los Angeles home for his former protege Blake Masters a Republican running to represent Arizona in the Senate. Tickets for that event are going for up to $11,600.

Thiel in July sent $1.5 million to the Saving Arizona super PAC.

Earlier this month, while speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Miami, Thiel accused Google, Apple and Facebook of causing political dysfunction in the United States.

"All these big companies are kind of screwed up," he told the audience. "But it's the super-structure that's really, really deranged."

That message has struck a chord among conservatives.

At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., dismissed the so-called ESG, or environmental, social and governance investment movement, as an attempt to "weaponize corporations to reshape society in a way that voters would never endorse at the ballot box."

Last week, the Conservative Political Action Coalition sent a letter to House Republicans calling on them to reject meetings with businesses that have spoken out on issues such as election laws, abortion, and transgender rights.

"Woke CEOs turned their backs on conservative leaders after the last election," the letter said. "Conservatives will take control led by activists and entrepreneurs who are exhausted and offended by the radical left policies pushed by these publicly traded companies."

But not all Republicans are on board with that approach.

Asked by CNBC whether he supports the pledge, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he's not closing any doors.

"I meet with everybody. How can you have any dialogue on how to make a change?" McCarthy said.

"It doesn't mean whether I agree with somebody or not, but I'll meet with anybody in the process."

Even Thiel has suggested that Republicans may need to tone down their rhetoric in the long run.

During his Miami speech, Thiel said that the GOP does not seem to have the electoral momentum of the "Republican Revolution" led by Newt Gingrinch in 1994 or of the Tea Party movement in 2010.

And Thiel warned against simply railing against what he called "woke insanities."

"My intuition is that the sort of nihilistic negation is probably not enough," he said. "It might be enough to win in the midterms in '22. It might be enough to win in '24. But we want to have something that is somewhat more of a program-positive vision something like that to be credible."

Meanwhile, Investing in US getting involved in marquee matchups across the country. For example, Hoffman and Karla Jurvetson, a Silicon Valley philanthropist who was formerly married to an early investor in SpaceX and Tesla, hosted a virtual conversation last month with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is now the Democratic candidate for governor.

Shapiro is running against Doug Mastriano, a Republican who has been subpoenaed by the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot over his alleged involvement in compiling an alternate slate of electors to hand the presidential election to Trump. In an email to his fellow executives and donors, Hoffman vowed to match the first $500,000 in contributions to Shapiro raised at his event.

"Whether or not the United States has a democratic system based on the peaceful transfer of power in 2024 depends on whether Josh Shapiro can defeat Doug Mastriano for governor of Pennsylvania this fall," the email read.

Mehlhorn told CNBC that the results of the midterms will reveal the strength of Trump's allies within the Republican party and determine whether their crusade against corporate America can continue.

"We believe the business community has an insufficient threat assessment of the nature of the threat," he said.

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Silicon Valley billionaires square off over support for Trump and the MAGA movement - CNBC

Lets be clear, I didnt set out to replace my fancy coffee machine. In fact, I quite adored my coffee machine. It was a shiny DeLonghi model that was an espresso machine on one side and a coffee brewer on the other. The beauty of it was that they were actually two separate units in the same casing genius! I searched high and low for the fancy coffee maker, reviewing as many models as I could get my hands on. And then I found it!

So, you can imagine my dismay when the brewing side started, shall we say, acting up. Now, its to be expected, of course. Wed been together for quite a while, and these things arent meant to last forever (though, I wish they would). I did all the routine troubleshooting: descaling, thorough cleaning, changing the filter, and descaling again. It would be ok for a brew or two, but not much else.

Its true, the espresso side was still working like a champ, and I could have just switched to that, but for me, espresso is an afternoon delight, not a first thing in the morning eye-opener. I needed to get to the bottom of it. After some internet-sleuthing, I diagnosed the problem as an issue with a fuse. Seems to be a common ailment after years of use and something that I could potentially fix. The thought of being without her to greet me in the morning was too much.

Hesitantly, and with a dash of guilt in my heart, I turned to another product Id been reviewing: the Cosori Smart Tea Kettle. Cosori is part of the VeSync family, and Id already reviewed some scales from that company, so I had the app setup and was beginning to build out a smart ecosystem. And that, to my surprise, is how I came to love the smart tea kettle.

For starters, it takes up way less room on the counter, maybe a quarter of the space of the fancy coffee machine. Its cute, too; it looks like a modern version of Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. Best of all, its got a similar build to the fancier Great Jones electric kettle and costs half the price. I particularly love the long curvy gooseneck spout that makes pouring a liquid feel like a white-glove waiter experience like attending a tea party at the Palace Hotel.

The black heating base has buttons for heating to the exact temperature of the type of beverage you want to use the hot water for. Settings include Green (180 degrees), Oolong (195 degrees), Coffee (205 degrees), Boil Black (212 degrees), and a My Brew, so you can create your own temp setting a great option for people who like their warm beverages scalding hot. Theres also a button to hold temp and cancel. The tea kettle brews to all those specifications.

Of course, I was most interested in the coffee setting. I paired the smart tea kettle with the french press collecting dust in my cabinet and got to it. Within 10 minutes (water heating and french press time), I was pouring myself a delicious cup of coffee. That was a solid solution, but was it the one? After fiddling around with the app, I was beginning to see the light.

Heres the magic of the app: It has all the settings you find on the Cosori machine, and you can control them all from the app. It got to the point where I would fill the pot with water before I went to bed and turn on the tea kettle from the app when I woke up in the morning. Thanks to the hold temp button, I didnt need to feel rushed to get to the kettle while it was still hot. You can also watch the temperature slowly rise in the app. The one thing you cant do is see if theres water in the tank.

Once I pour the water in the French Press, I tell my Echo Show to set a timer I have to do all the smart activities. Its been a month of constant use and I think Ive fallen into a new morning coffee routine. Now, thats not to say Ive given up the dream of a fancy coffee machine, but this solution is suiting me just fine.

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I replaced my fancy coffee machine with a smart tea kettle, and I love it - Digital Trends

Question: What do you call a political party that disdains both politics and partisanship, boasts of having no platform, and is led by politicians with little in common beyond their lack of recent political success?

a) A paradox.b) A vanity project.c) A money-making scheme.d) The future of American politics.

For the thousand or so people who crowded into Houstons Bayou City Event Center on Saturday to witness the national launch of the Forward party, the answer was decidedly d. Founded in July by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former Republican governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman, and former Republican congressman David Jolly of Florida, Forward touts itself as a new kind of partya home for the growing number of Americans who feel alienated from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Millions of Americans right now are in despair, Yang, a New York City entrepreneur, told the crowd on Saturday afternoon. They know theres a problem, and theyre not sure what to do. Our job today is to come together and start to build a solution. If we can provide a real alternative, Americans will embrace it. This alternative, as Yang and his fellow party leaders made clear, wasnt necessarily a different set of policies. Rather, it was a new spirit of political tolerance. Forward would be a party that embraces left, right, and center, Jolly explained. Its not formed around ideological thought.

The problem with American politics, as the Forward party sees it, is our increasing polarization. Its leaders believe both major parties have become more ideologically rigid and intolerant of dissent. The remedy is common-sense solutions that move the country forward. That was an attractive message to many of the attendees on Saturday. I think our two-party system is broken, said Elizabeth Winston-Jones, who works for a nonprofit environmental group in Houston. Winston-Jones has voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates. She now believes both parties have been corrupted by corporate money and ideological conformity. Its really time for a reset, she told me.

Public opinion polls suggest that Winston-Jones speaks for a growing number of Americans. In a 2021 Gallup poll, 62 percent of U.S. adults said the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job representing the American people that a third party is neededthe highest number in the polls history. Just 33 percent of Americans said the two parties were doing an adequate job representing the public. There is too much extremism on both sides, said Sandy Chau, a retired venture capitalist who traveled from his home in San Francisco to attend the Forward party event. Chau has supported Yang since meeting him in 2018 at a political fundraiser.

The Forward party claims to have no ideology. But anyone listening to the speeches on Saturday would have recognized the technocratic worldview of Silicon Valley, the Aspen Institute, and the World Economic Forum. The Democrats and Republicans were repeatedly dismissed as legacy parties. Yang called the two-party system the biggest design flaw in the history of the world. There was much talk of the Forward partys value proposition. This was a launch party for what was being hailed by its creators as the killer app of politics. The two legacy parties, it was implied, would soon go the way of the rotary phone.

Unfortunately, the Forward partys best-known leader displayed a better grasp of tech jargon than of American history. In another era when America was just as divided as this one, what happened? Yang asked the crowd at one point. The Civil War! several people shouted. It wasnt the answer Yang wanted. There was a war, yes, he acknowledged. But also, millions of Americans rose up and created a new party, a new movement, that over a period of years served to unify the country.

He appeared to be referring to the modern Republican party, formed in the 1850s and committed to a very clear (one might even call it ideological) platform calling for the abolition of slaverya platform that, had the Forward party existed at the time, it would presumably have deemed divisive and extreme. Indeed, far from unifying the country, it was the election of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, that ignited the Civil War. Such details were evidently of little interest to Yang, who quickly moved on to selectively quoting the Founding Fathers on the dangers of partisanship.

The Republican party aside, the traditional role played by third parties in American politics is that of spoiler. Were it not for Ralph Nader and Jill Stein, we might have had presidents Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. Were it not for Ross Perot, President George H.W. Bush might have won a second term. Bill King, who has twice run unsuccessfully for Houston mayor and now serves as the Forward partys Texas cochair, assured me that the new party would not have the same effect. Because of its centrism, he said, it would draw votes away from both partiesnot tipping the election either way, but merely offering voters an alternative.

It may be a while before anyone can vote for a Forward party candidate. Like every new party, Forward must go through a separate process to get on the ballot in each state. It plans to field its first candidates by the end of 2023. In Texas it aims to compete in the 2024 electionbut first it must collect approximately 90,000 signatures from supporters who have not participated in either the Democratic or Republican primary. According to its website, the initial focus will be on local races; no one on the Forward team is currently planning to run for president in 2024.

Perhaps its not a surprise that no Forward party leader plans to run for president. Whitman hasnt run a political race since winning a second term as New Jersey governor in 1997. Jolly is a one-term Republican congressman and failed U.S. Senate candidate. Yang did not win a single state in the 2020 Democratic primary, collecting less than half a percentage of all votes cast before he dropped out. The following year he ran for mayor of New York City, placing fourtha particularly devastating loss, given that the city uses the ranked-choice voting system long touted by Yang as a solution to Americas democratic woes.

The Forward party founders now seem to spend most of their time speaking at conferences or pontificating on cable newswhich makes their evident antipathy to the news media especially odd. Asked by a moderator about the skepticism that has greeted the Forward party from some in the media, who have questioned its viability and lack of a platform, several speakers hinted darkly at a conspiracy to silence voices and protect Americas political duopoly. When they go overboard on their criticism, theyre criticizing you, Jollya paid contributor for NBC and MSNBCtold the audience. Theyre saying youre not allowed to exercise your politics, youre not allowed to exercise your franchise. Yang, a paid CNN contributor, agreed. You can tell how disingenuous the criticism is, because it really is put out by people who are getting paid by the status quo.

Despite the packed house in Houston, it remains unclear whether the Forward party has a constituencya silent majority just waiting to be activated by a message of compromise and civilityor whether its a kind of Potemkin party that exists mainly on social media and the convention circuit. Is this the tea party for centrists, as its most fervent supporters seem to think, or simply a bid by B-list politicians to remain relevant?

American politics is certainly in a bad place. The Forward party has diagnosed some real problemsexcessive extremism, winner-take-all primaries, partisan gerrymandering, campaign finance, and much else. But in order to solve these problems, the party will have to do something that seems highly unlikelywin elections. Can the Forward party move beyond platitudes into the realm of real political reform? I guess you could class me among the skeptics. Then again, maybe Im just getting paid by the status quo.

Read more here:
The Forward Party Wants to Disrupt Traditional Politics. But Can It Win Elections? - Texas Monthly

They say that Disneyland Resort is The Happiest Place on Earth and for good reason. Between the amazing rides, the fun character meet and greets, delicious food, and incredible nighttime spectaculars like World of Color and Disneyland Forever Fireworks, there is a lot to love. Every day, thousands of people walk through Disneylands gates and have the best day ever.

One man is going viral for bringing Disneyland magic to an older stranger in the most amazing and tear-jerking way.

Mr. Good is a 100-year-old veteran, and Isaiah Garza is a 49-year-old YouTuber who focuses on videos that make people smile. Garza wanted to do something nice for a veteran, and thats when he found Mr. Good. Garza wanted to take Mr. Good to The Happiest Place on Earth and arranged to surprise the veteran while he was on a walk in the park.

When Garza asked Mr. Good if he wanted to go to Disneyland, the elderly man could not believe it. From there came the creation of one of the happiest, magical, tear-jerking videos that you may ever see.

During their day at Disneyland Park, Garza and Good spent the day going on rides like Mad Tea Party, dancing to songs on Main Street, U.S.A., meeting characters like the Mad Hatter, and even getting Mr. Good his very own pair of Mickey Ears.

While its so much fun watching the two have the best day, it is the end of the video that really makes you break out the tissues. Garza asks Good if he is having fun, and Good says that he never imagined such a thing happening. He says that he thought those days were behind him and began to cry when telling Garza just how much this day meant to him.

Garza has nearly 1.5 million YouTube followers, and his videos focus on good deeds and making people feel good.

Garzas video of his Disneyland Park day with Mr. Good is quickly going viral, even being shared by Disney Parks! This video shows what a truly special day it was for both men.

The rest is here:
100-Year-Old Veteran Cries Happy Tears After Being Surprised With a Trip to Disney - Disney Dining

(Reuters) - From antitrust to zoning, Ive written about most areas of the law but I steer clear of immigration.

Thats because Im married to an immigration judge.

If I wrote a column calling for immediate full citizenship for all undocumented immigrants or for all undocumented immigrants to be immediately put in jail Id be concerned my opinion, fairly or not, could reflect on my spouse.

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Better to stay out of his lane.

Maybe thats part of why I find Virginia (Ginni) Thomas alleged conduct related to the 2020 presidential election so off-putting.

Last week, my Reuters colleagues confirmed that Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, agreed to be interviewed by the U.S. congressional panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Her lawyer Mark Paoletta told Reuters that she is eager to answer the Committees questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election.

The committee obtained emails between her and former President Donald Trump's election attorney John Eastman, who pushed the theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence could block Congress from certifying Trump's 2020 election loss, the Washington Post previously reported.

The Post also reported that she texted Mark Meadows, Trumps White House chief of staff, and emailed lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin, urging them to assist in overturning the election of Joe Biden as president.

Paoletta did not respond to a request for comment from his client, nor did Ginni Thomas firm, Liberty Consulting. A Supreme Court spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment from Clarence Thomas or his wife.

To be clear, Im not suggesting Ginni Thomas, who has a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law, should limit her activity to nodding adoringly at her husband. But her political activism is placing him and the Supreme Court as an institution in a difficult position.

While Thomas for years has been a right wing agitator, assailing "the big government agenda" and praising "Tea Party patriots" in a 2010 speech, for example, her embrace of efforts to overturn a lawful presidential election, if true, are of another magnitude entirely.

Spouses of justices since 1790 have exercised self-restraint in what they say and do in order to encourage public trust in the court, legal ethics expert Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law, told me. Ginni Thomas alone has rejected that model, as she has a right to do, but she has acted without apparent regard for the harmful consequences of her actions.

The high court is facing what's been called a crisis of legitimacy, with the justices viewed increasingly as partisan actors. The sentiment has magnified in the wake of the court's June decision shrugging off decades of settled law to hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.

The Pew Research Center in a national survey released Sept. 1 found that just 48% of the public holds a favorable view of the court. Two years ago, that number stood at 70%.

Im not blaming Ginni Thomas. But shes not helping.

To be sure, she isnt the only SCOTUS spouse navigating around the unique contours of her partners job. Its just that the others have managed to do so without attracting much attention.

Consider Jane Roberts. The wife of Chief Justice John Roberts quit her job as a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in 2007, two years after her husband ascended to the high court, to become a legal recruiter.

Currently the managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office of Macrae Inc, she declined comment via email, explaining that she does not talk to the press.

Justice Amy Coney Barretts husband Jesse Barrett is also an attorney, working at the Washington, D.C., office of 17-lawyer South Bank Legal, which is based in Indiana.

A white-collar specialist, he has tried several dozen federal cases to jury verdict and has handled numerous appeals, including successful arguments in state and federal appellate courts, according to his law firm bio.

He did not respond to a request for comment.

The non-attorney spouses also have kept a low profile.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jacksons husband, Patrick Jackson, is a surgeon.

Justice Brett Kavanaughs wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, is the town manager for Section 5 of the Village of Chevy Chase, Maryland, which describes itself as a "small, quiet community of 227 houses and one restaurant.

Justice Samuel Alitos wife Martha-Ann Alito was a law librarian before the couple had children.

Justice Neil Gorsuchs wife Louise Gorsuch, who has not been reported to work outside the home, did pen a Fox News essay published on Sept. 21, 2019. But it was hardly controversial. Headlined Why I became an American citizen, it extolled her love of America and its ideals.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor is divorced, and Justice Elena Kagan never married.

A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment from the justices or their spouses.

Ginni Thomas opinions are her own and may actually tell us nothing about where her husband stands on Trump's false claims of election fraud.

But the fact that she'll be testifying before a congressional committee about her connection to these efforts is enough to cast a shadow on the highest court in the land.

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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Thomson Reuters

Jenna Greene writes about legal business and culture, taking a broad look at trends in the profession, faces behind the cases, and quirky courtroom dramas. A longtime chronicler of the legal industry and high-profile litigation, she lives in Northern California. Reach Greene at jenna.greene@thomsonreuters.com

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Ginni Thomas and the Supreme Court's crisis of legitimacy - Reuters.com